Can Shailesh Jejurikar Boost Sales and Profits as CEO of Procter and Gamble

Procter and Gamble’s incoming CEO Shailesh Jejurikar will be rare Indian CEO of major American consumer goods company and one with no U.S. degree

(Photo: Shailesh Jejurikar, COO, Procter & Gamble)

July 31, 2025

By Cherian Samuel*

Starting in January next year, Shailesh Jejurikar will take over as Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Chief Executive Officer. “I am honored to serve as P&G’s CEO,” Jejurikar said in a company statement this week. Currently the Chief Operating Officer, he joined the company in 1989.

The appointment of Jejurikar, 58-years-old, shows P&G’s preference for choosing internal candidates for the top job. The 187-year-old American consumer products company sells soap, shampoo, beauty, healthcare, and home care products in about 70 countries, including India. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company, whose brands include Crest toothpaste, Gillette shaving blades, and Head & Shoulders shampoo, has a market value of $358 billion.

While there are several Indian CEOs of major American companies, almost all of them are engineers running technology companies. They include Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, parent of Google. So, when he takes over, Jejurikar will be a rare Indian CEO of a major American consumer goods company. Also, unlike most other Indian CEOs of American companies, Jejurikar did not earn a degree from a U.S. university. For instance, Indra Nooyi, who was the CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018, earned a Master’s in Public and Private Management from Yale University, 1980.

As COO, Jejurikar has played a key role in managing P&G’s strategy and operational outcomes in the supply chain, information technology, and global business services. Prior to his COO role, he served as the head of Fabric & Home Care, which includes laundry detergents such as Tide and Downy.

During his 36-year career at the company, Jejurikar held roles across multiple P&G businesses including Health & Beauty Care. He joined P&G’s Indian operations as an assistant brand manager, after graduating from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, 1989.

Seven years later, he moved to Nairobi, Kenya, to take over as the marketing manager for East Africa. The experience of adjusting to a different country and culture was “liberating”, he told a 2023 P&G Alumni podcast. As the only decision-maker in a largely flat organization, he experienced first-hand both plant and office operations since the factory, warehouse and sales office were located on the same premises. “It was like working in a start-up, where the buck stopped with you. I could recognize my strengths and play to those attributes,” he said. “When you unlock an insight with curiosity, the power to drive limitless growth is huge. We as leaders can make a big difference with the questions we ask.”

Jejurikar progressed steadily through various P&G assignments, in India and Southeast Asia, before arriving in the US in 2010 as Vice President, Home Care, North America. He served as the executive sponsor for global sustainability, 2016-2021, managing the integration of the company’s sustainability goals and operations. Jejurikar was then appointed COO.

He was born in Mumbai. Hie father worked for ICI Paints, which is now part of AkzoNobel, in different Indian cities. His older brother Rajesh Jejurikar is the CEO, Auto & Farm Sectors, Mahindra and Mahindra, a major Indian company.

Jejurikar’s early schooling was in an area near Mumbai. He joined the Hyderabad Public School (HPS) in the eighth grade. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was a classmate; the two remain good friends, according to MSN.com. Other HPS graduates include: Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, and Ajay Banga, President, World Bank, and former CEO, Mastercard.

In school, Jejurikar was an avid cricketer. In the 12th grade, he was named head boy of the school, which provided early leadership opportunities. In 1987, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Elphinstone College, Mumbai.

Jejurikar is married to Sankhya, a visual artist. They have two sons, Shashank and Siddharth. Jejurikar has maintained a close connection to India, visiting regularly—at least thrice a year—for family holidays and sometimes for business. “Shailesh is big into Bollywood movies,” his brother Rajesh told The Business Standard. “He’s always made an effort to stay close to his roots,” Their mother, who is in her mid-80s, lives in Mumbai.

In fiscal ending June 2024, Jejurikar earned $10 million, including $6.5 million in stock and option awards As of August 2024, he also owned and had the right to acquire P&G stock worth about $83 million, at current prices. His salary and stock awards will rise when he takes over as CEO.

In fiscal year 2025, P&G’s sales were $84.3 billion, virtually flat from fiscal 2024, the smallest increase in seven years. Operating profit last year was $20.5 billion, ten percent higher than in fiscal 2024.

As CEO, Jejurikar will face major challenges, chiefly figuring out how to boost P&G’s revenue and profit growth. The company’s main global competitor is London based Unilever, which has a market value of $148 billion. In addition, in recent years, new companies are sourcing from China, using highly automated supply chains, to sell lower priced consumer goods in the major markets of the U.S. and Western Europe. Often backed by big retailers, the founders see a business opportunity in the huge revenues and high profit margins of P&G and other long-established branded goods vendors. Chief among them is Zuru Edge, based in Auckland, New Zealand, which is seeing rapid growth in sales of its lower priced diapers, shampoos and other consumer products.

In the U.S. which accounts for roughly half of P&G’s global sales, Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers sell their own cheaper, store brand p0roducts. The big retailers in the U.S. and Western Europe also use their buying power to dictate prices to suppliers.

Strong, rising competition, and major retailers in the U.S. and Western Europe, will continue to pressure sales and profit growth at P&G. Also, in the U.S., Jejurikar will have to tackle the higher costs resulting from the tariffs on imports, imposed by Donald Trump’s administration.

As CEO, Jejurikar will be managing P&G’s two-year cost cutting plan. Announced in June, the plan includes laying off 7,000 office employees, about 15% of the P&G’s global non-manufacturing workforce. Also, he will be managing the company’s exit from some products in certain markets.

Apparently, Jejurikar is looking forward to tackling the challenges. In a company statement this week, which announced his being named CEO, he said, “P&G people, our brands, and our capabilities in innovation and operational excellence fuel my confidence for a future of sustained growth and value creation.”

*Cherian Samuel, a writer based in Washington DC, retired from the World Bank. He earned a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland, MPhil from the Centre For Development Studies, India, and MA from BITS, Pilani, India.